Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

115 reviews

cait's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Slavery, Violence, War, Alcohol, Classism, Medical content, Gore, Gun violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Death, and Death of parent

katelynndzindzio's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Roman C. Kitt and Iris Winnow are rivals, competing for the columnist position at the Gazette only to have their worlds completely changed. Iris's brother goes to war, her mom died, and Roman gets engaged. Roman wins the columnist position and Iris quits, determined to find her brother she heads to the war zone. All the while, Iris has been sending letters from her magical typewriter... Unknowingly, not to her brother. 
Kitt and winnow's journey is magical to say the least. Through a series of unfortunate events they fall in love. Can true love save them? 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Medical content, War, Murder, Blood, Death of parent, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, and Violence

sierrabowers's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I thought this was a good book! I will definitely be reading the second one and I’m excited to see the world building and character development changes in the second as well. I only rated 4 stars because I feel like the “hidden identity enemies to lovers” trope is overused at this point but it was still a good book! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Death of parent, War, Medical content, Blood, Classism, Genocide, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, Vomit, and Violence

kades26's review against another edition

emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This started off like a very light, cute story with a harsh, scary something looming over it. The "something" is dealt with in the last 5ish chapters of the book. Felt slow and then all of a sudden very fast. Not rushing to go read the second one but will get there eventually.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Alcoholism

Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, Violence, Medical content, Death, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Minor: Classism

jessversteeg's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I super enjoyed this book! I enjoyed the old-timey vibe and that there wasn’t a whole lot of world building necessary. Can’t wait to read the next one. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical trauma, Medical content, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Child death

tabea1409's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, War, Death, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

hollyleapurtill's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Alcoholism, Gore, Vomit, Medical content, Blood, War, Death, Genocide, Grief, and Violence

cursed_sapphire's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This was a surprise hit for me. I had heard some people loved this book and some hated it, but I didn't even know what it was about when I decided to pick it up. 

This, much to my shock, is basically a fantasy WW1 romance novel. While not depicting the actual WW1, it was very clearly inspired by WW1- the tactics, the responses of the public, propaganda, etc. And it was something I never knew I needed. 

A bit of a warning- the first half of the book is more of the romance, much less of the fantasy, and is slower paced. The second half of the book is much faster, and while the romance is still a focus, the fantasy war becomes much more prevalent. Just something to be aware of. 

The characters were very well-defined, and their chemistry leaped off the page. If you're a fan of mutual pining, secret identities, love letters, or he-falls-first-and-harder relationship dynamics, you'll probably like the romance. The side characters were also engaging, diverse, and relevant to the plot. 

Overall this was a fun read with some surprisingly strong characters and interesting depictions of war and its various impacts. It's also the first good luck I've had with recent "romantasy" books. I look forward to the sequel, although I fear where it will go after the cliffhanger this book leaves on. However, I trust that even if the sequel doesn't stick the landing, this book alone will enjoy a long stay on my favorite's list, just below The Cruel Prince and Six of Crows as far as YA fantasy. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Vomit, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Xenophobia, Torture, Gore, Genocide, Classism, and Blood

Minor: Medical content

ladygetslit's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

You had me at magical typewriters 😍

The only reason I’m docking this 1/4 star is because I just have so many questions I want answered. Who are these gods really, and why are they actually mad at each other? How do these typewriters actually work? And

where tf is Roman at the end of the book???

I guess I will have to wait for my library hold on Ruthless Vows to come through so I can find out!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, Medical content, and Gore

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Sexual content

abbey_marie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Stunning. This book is such a whirlwind of emotions, so real and raw and beautiful. I haven’t read a book that has moved me so much in so long. I will treasure this book so much. I am proud to have it on my shelf and hope to one day share it with my children. I don’t even have kids yet but I’m convinced that this will be on my shelf for a lifetime, it’s so beautiful and I never want to let it go!

It started out slow and I honestly quite liked the pacing of that. In the middle and end is where it really ramped up, many emotional scenes that had me needing to take a break from reading because they were so raw and well written. It’s truly moving.

If you’re looking for a high fantasy book, this isn’t it. It doesn’t have a lot of the fantasy elements, though I’ve heard the second book does. It has more magical realism I think than fantasy. But if you’re looking for a beautiful love story, a book with elements of what feels like historical fiction (it seems to be set in the 1910s or 20s), an atmospheric novel, an emotional adventure of a read, this is it. This is everything I didn’t know I needed and I am beyond excited for the second in the duology! (And so glad that it isn’t a trilogy because my heart might explode if I had to wait for a third book!)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Moderate: Body horror, Death of parent, Vomit, Alcoholism, and Grief

Minor: Sexual content, Medical content, and Excrement

This book has several intense war scenes in it and graphic scenes of violence and death. If you are sensitive to those, you may want to read this slowly, take breaks, or this may not be the book for you. It also has some elements of alcoholism, grief, death of a parent, and PTSD. It does have one sex scene, but it’s tastefully done and not graphic.